Type-writing machine



(No Model.) r 4 SheetsSheet 1.

J. H. FREEMAN, Jr. TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

No. 558,795. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

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/ 6 d I I z W fw ATTORNEY.

ANDREW E.GRAHAM,PHOTOJJYHQWASHIN 570M D c (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. H. FREEMAN, Jr.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE. 4 No 558,795. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

ATTORNEY.

ANDREW RGRAHAM. PHOTO-LITHQWASHI NGTON. D C

(No Model.) 4 Sheets Sheet 3. J. H. FREEMAN, Jr.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 558,795. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

INVENTOH ATTORNEY.

IXN DREW BGRAHAM PHOTO-LITHQWASHINGTDN D C (No Model.) 4Sheets--Sheet 4.

J. H. FREEMAN, Jr. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 558,795. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

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WITNESSES:

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fflwM JAMES ll. FREEMAN, JR, OF IlOlVARD, COLORADO.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,795, dated April21, 1896.

Application filed April 2 9, 1893.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES H. FREEMAN, Jr. a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Howard, in the county of Fremont and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inType-YVrit' ing Machines; and Ido declare the following tobe a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to thefigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in type-writing machines; and theobject of the improvement is to provide a machine on which the writingis done circumferentially instead of longitudinally of the platen.

The sheet of paper to be used is made to surround the platen, which musthave a ci1' cumference equal to the width of the sheet. The head of thesheet is placed toward the left, and after each line is written thecarriage moves one space or the distance between the lines to the left.Hence it is only necessary to reverse the carriage after the entiresheet has been written. This is one important advantage over thosemachines the carriage of which must be reversed after the writing ofeach line'or as many times during the writing of a sheet as there arelines on the sheet.

My improvement consists of certain attachments which may be applied tothe Caligraph, Remington, or other machines of similar construction oroperation. My at tachments consist of means for rotating the platen asthe keys are pressed, means for locking the carriage against lateralmovement during the writing of the line, means for releasing thecarriage after each revolution of the platen, whereby it is permitted tomove laterally one space, means for adjusting the size of the platen,whereby it maybe made to accommodate itself to any width of sheet, andother details, all of which will be fully understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which my improvements are shown attached tothe Oaligraph machine.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine with saidimprovements in place. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. i Fig. 3is a top orplan viewof the carriage, the platen, and their connections.Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken through the platen. Means for thevertical adjustment of the platen are also shown in this view. Fig. 5 isan end elevation of the platen, carriage, and their connections, thespindle of the platen being shown in section. Fig. 6 is a verticaltransverse section taken through the platen. Fig. 7 is a rear view ofthe platen, the rack, and the carriage, several of the connecting partsbeing shown broken away. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the means forrotating the platen as the keys are pressed. Fig. 9 is an elevation ofthe ratchet-disk forming one of the platen-heads. Fig. 10 is a sectionof the platen, showing the adjusting means in elevation. Fig. 11 is atop orplan View of the carriage, illustrating the device for locking thetwo plates of the rack together. Fig. 12 is a rear view of the same.

To secure the desired results from the construction illustrated in theseviews, the type must, of course, be given a one-quarter turn on thetype-bars from their positions on or dinary machines.

. Similar reference-characters indicate corresponding parts or elementsof the mechanism in the several views.

The numeral 1 designates the top plate of the machine; 7, the sideplates; 8, the can riagerail standards; 9, the carriage main shafts; 10and 10, the carriage-rods; 12 and 12 the carriage-end connecting rods;13, the platen; 14, the platen-spindle; 15, the universal bar; 16, therocker-bar; 18, the letterspace dog; 17, the dog-holder; 19 and 19", theracks; 20, the holdfast-dog; 21, the drivingarm, and 22 the link.

To the rocker-bar is attached a triangular frame 23 23 24, the parts 23being secured to the bar at their lower extremities, their oppositeextremities being connected by the part 24, which is a horizontal rodlocated in the rear of the platen. Pivoted on rod 10, or the rear rod ofthe carriage, are two arms 25, as shown in Fig. 7, which are connectedat their upper extremities bya rod 26, to which both arms are made fast.This movable frame, composed of the two arms and the 0011- necting-rod,is attached to part 24 of the triangular frame by a loose sleeve orother suitable connection 27, which allows the arms 25 and theirconnecting-rod to move freely with the carriage laterally, whileconnected with the triangular frame, whose rod 24 lies in closeproximity to the arms 25. The rod 29 carries a pivoted pawl or dog 28,which engages the ratchet-disk 29, forming one head of the platen. Itwill thus be seen that every time a key is pressed and bar 16 actuatedthe triangular frame is carried forward with the bar, acts on the arms25, thrusts the dog 28 forward, and gives the platen a partial rotation.

According to the principle upon which a machine provided with myimprovements must operate, as heretofore stated, the carriage must notmove laterally until the platen has made a complete revolution. Themechanism for locking the carriage and releasing it at the proper timewill now be described.

Made fast to the part 19 of the rack is a lug or rearward projection29", upon which is pivoted at one extremity, as shown at 31 ahook-shaped arm 30, the free extremity of which occupies a position inclose proximity to the ratchet-disk 29 and engages a lug 31, made fastto an auxiliary disk 29- connected with the ratchet, as hereinafterexplained. This engagement takes place once for each revolution of theplaten, and thus thrusts the arm backward. This horizontally-oscillatinarm 30 carries a depending pin 30, which enters a notch cut in themovable plate 19 of the rack, and looks said plate from movement. Aleaf-spring 32, made fast to the lug 29 at one extremity, bears againstthe pin 30 at the opposite extremity and normally holds the arm 30 andits pin in the locking position. The function of the spring 32is toreturn the arm 30 to the locking position after each rcleasing actoccasioned by the engagement of the lug 31. with the free extremity ofsaid arm. Once, however, for each revolution of the platen the lug 31engages the end of the arm 30 and thrusts the same backward far enoughto disengage the pin 30 from the notch in the rack-plate and release therack, when the carriage will be carried one space to the left throughthe medium of the spring-actuated driving-arm 21 and in the usual way.

In order that the lug 31 may always engage the arm 30 at the rightinstant, it is necessary that there should be some means of adjustin gor regulating the auxiliary disk 29 carrying the lug 31. Hence the part29 is made detachable from the ratchet-disk, but held in place thereonby a leaf-sprin g attached to the auxiliary disk at one extremity andcarrying a pin 29 at the opposite extremity, which passes through anaperture formed in the auxiliary disk and enters a coinciding aperture29 formed in the ratchet disk or head, which carries a series of saidapertures.

The auxiliary disk may be held stationary and the platen rotatedindependently of the same to secure any desired degree of adjustment,after which the spring-actuated pin 29 slips into one of the aperturesin the ratchethead and locks the parts together. To secure thisadjustment, the pin 29 is first Withdrawn from the aperture 29 afterwhich the platen may be rotated by turning the head 14, which is madefast to a sleeve formed integral with the ratchet-head of the platen.

The peculiar construction of the platen, which permits its adjustment tocorrespond with the width of the sheet of paper to be used, will now bedescribed.

The spindle of the platen is provided with one or more sets of shortarms or projections 33, each set consisting of a plural number(preferably four) of arms, as shown in Fig. 10. The body of the platenis hollow and composed of some thin spring material, as sheet-steel, theedges of which overlap, as shown at 34. The inner surface of thisplatenbody is provided with lugs 35, corresponding in number with arms33. These lugs are respectively connected with the arms by means of rods36, whose extremities are respectively pivoted to the connected parts.It will thus be seen that by giving the spindle a partial rotation theoverlapping portion 34 of the platen-body may be increased or diminishedand the size of the platen regulated as desired. As the size of theplaten is changed provision must be made for adjusting the spindlevertically or for raising and lowering the platen to maintain that partof its surface to be engaged by the type always in the same horizontalplane. To accomplish this, the spindle 14 is journaled in movable boxes35, (see Fig. 5,) slidingly supported between upright arms 38, attachedto the ends 12 of the carriage. Located beneath these boxes and restingupon the central bed-plates 12 of the carriage ends are the movableblocks 39, having inclined faces engaging the boxes 35. These movableboxes, one at each end of the carriage, are connected by a horizontalyoke 40, which passes around the carriage and is made fast to theblocks.

Upon one extremity of the spindle is formed a worm 41, which is engagedby a lug 42, made fast to the adjacent block 39, whereby as the spindleis turned the block will be moved, and since the two blocks areconnected by the yoke 40 the turning of the spindle will adjust bothblocks 39, and consequently raise or lower the boxes 35, as may bedesired, simultaneo usly with the adjustment of the platen.

The ratchet-head 29 of the platen is formed integral with or made fastto the adjacent extremity 14 of the spindle, which is tubular andreceives one end of the main spindle, which is movable therein. Theheads 29 and The spindle extremities are provided with milled heads 145.By holding the tubular part of the spindle fast with one hand andturning the opposite end with the other hand the platen may be subjectedto any desired degree of adjustment. The head 29 is a sort ofcone-ratchet, there being several sets of ratchet-teeth formed on thediiferent circumferences of the disk.

The number of teeth in the different sets composing the ratchet-l1ead ofthe platen varies to correspond with the different sizes of the platen.Hence when the platen is largest the pawl should engage that part of theratchet-head having the greatest number of teeth, since the larger theplaten the greater will be the length of the surrounding sheet of paper.The number of letters and words in each line should therefore correspondwith the length of the line-that is, the letters and words should be thesame distance apart regardless of the size of the platen. This object Iobtain by the employment of the differential ratchet-head. It will bereadily observed, however, that if the pawl 28 were in engagement withthe same set of teeth continuously the number of letters and words in aline would be the same regardless of the size of the platen and thelength of the sheet of paper, since the spaces between the letters andwords would then vary to correspond with the variation in thecircumference of the platen, which condition of affairs would of coursebe impracticable.

WVhile the differential ratchet-head is shown in the drawings providedwith three sets of teeth, it will be readily understood that any othernumber of sets may be employed and that the spacing between the lettersand Words may be maintained practically or approximately uniform, as thesize of the platen is changed to correspond with the length of thesheets of paper.

The pawl is movable laterally upon its supporting-rod 26. The yoke 40 isprovided with two pins 40 which occupy positions 011 opposite sides ofthe pawl and move the latter to correspond with the adjustment of theyoke, which is actuated by the worm 11, as heretofore stated. Theinclined blocks 39 being moved back and forth by the wormspindle 41, theyoke 40, which is attached to the blocks, is shifted endwise as theplaten is raised or lowered. The pins 40 are so arranged with referenceto the pawl 28 that when the platen is largest and correspondinglyadjusted vertically the pawl will be moved to engagement with thelargest part of the differential ratchet-head 29 or that part having thegreatest number of teeth. Again, when the platen is smallest, the pawlwill be adjusted by the pins to engage the smallest part of the head 29,while for any intermediate size of the platen the pawl will be made toengage that part of the coneshaped or differential ratchet-head ofcorresponding size. The platen is provided with the upper and lowerguide-sprin gs 45 and 45, attached to the carriage-rods.

From the foregoing description it is believed that the operation of themachine will be readily understood.

The sheet of paper is placed lengthwise upon the platen beneath theguide-springs 45 and 45 with the head of the sheet toward the left. Theplaten is so adjusted that its circumference shall correspond with thewidth of the sheet which is placed thereon. As the key-stems 4' arepressed downward,the bridges 3 engage the universal bar 15 and actuatethe rocker-bar 16, the triangular frame 23 23 24, the pivoted frame 2525 26, and the dog 28, whereby the platen is given a partial rotationfor each key pressed. The carriage is locked from lateral movement untilit has made a complete revolution by the spring-actuated arm 30,carrying the depending pin 30, which engages a notch 19 formed in themovable rack-plate 19. When the platen has made a complete revolution,lug 31 engages the arm 30 and moves it backward sufficiently to releasethe locking-pin from the rack-plate when the carriage moves one space,or the distance between the lines, toward the left.

It is desirable that the person using the machine should be notifiedjust before the rotation of the platen is completed. For this purpose abell 46 and a movable hammer 17 are attached to one end of the carriage.A pin 48 is attached to the carriage-head 29 just in advance of the lug31. This pin engages the spring-arm 47 of the hammer, and suddenlyreleases the same, causing the hammer to strike the bell, whereby thedesired Warning is given.

The overlapping edges 34 of the platen may be employed to hold the edgeof the paper while placing it in position therearound, the

grasp the paper and afford sufiicient resistance to accomplish thisobject.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In atype-writing machine, the combination with the rocker-bar of theupwardly-proj ecting frame attached thereto, the movable frame supportedupon the carriage and carrying the pawl engaging the ratchet-head of theplaten, and means for locking the carriage against lateral movement asthe platen is actuated, substantially as described.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination with the rocker-bar, theletter-space dog and the rack, of a spring-actuated arm attached to oneplate of the rack and carrying a pin normally engaging the other plate,and locking the carriage from lateral movement, as the letter-space dogis actuated, substantially as described.

3. In a type-writing machine, the combination with the platen and therack, of an arm supported upon one plate of the rack and tension of theparts being such that they will engaging the other plate, whereby thetwo plates are normally locked together, and a lug attached to theplaten and engaging the lock ing-arm once during each revolution of theplaten, whereby the movable rack-plate is released, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a type-writing machine, the combination with the rocker-bar, therack and the platen, of an arm attached to the carriage and normallylocking the movable rack-plate, means attached to the platen forengaging the arm and releasing the rack-plate at suitable intervals, andmeans actuated from the rocker-bar for rotating the platen,substantially as described.

5. In a type-writing machine, the combination with the platen of therack, means attached to the carriage for locking the rackplatestogether, and means attached to the platen for releasing said plates atsuitable intervals, substantially as described.

6. In a type-writing machine, the hollow platen having overlappinglongitudinal edges, the spindle upon which the heads of the platen arepivoted and means connected with the spindle for regulating the size ofthe platen by increasing or diminishing the lap of the edges,substantially as described.

7. In a type writing machine, the hollow platen having overlappinglongitudinal edges, a spindle upon which the heads of the platen arepivoted, and rods connected with arms on the spindle and lugs on theplaten, whereby the size of the latter may be adjusted by moving thespindle rotatably while the heads are stationary, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a typewriting machine, the hollow platen having overlappinglongitudinal ed ges,the slotted heads supporting the platenbody which isprovided with pins entering the slots, the spindle and means connectedtherewith and engaging the platen from the inside, whereby the size ofthe latter is regulated by moving the spindle rotatably, while the headsremain stationary,substantially as described.

9. In a type-writing machine, the combination with the platen andcarriage, of vertically-movable boxes supported on the carriage ends,the platen-spindle being journaled in these boxes, and means connectedwith the spindle for adjusting the boxes, substantially as described.

10. In a type-Writing machine, the combination with the platen andcarriage, of movable boxes supported on the carriage ends and in whichthe spindle is journaled, blocks connected by a yoke and having inclinedfaces engaging these boxes, and a worm on the spindle engaged bya lug onone of the blocks,

whereby as the spindle is turned the platen is vertically adjusted,substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES H. FREEMAN, JR. \Vitnesses J. B. WILLSEA, CHAs. E. DAWSON.

